Ballast undercutting mechanism



July 29, 1969 M. J.' sPENo BALLAST UNDERCU'I'TING(l MECHANISM 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. l. 1966 INVENTOI( /V/AFT/N J. SP5/v0 flludfu/ATTORNEYS July 29, 1969 M. J. SPI-:No

BALLAST UNDERCUTTING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. l. 1966INVENTQR /MeJ/A/ J. SPE/v0 MII-,

BY Zjdm, aywz Mw ATTORNEYS N ...BQ

M. J. SPENO BALLAST UNDERCNUTTING MECHANISM July 29, 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet3 Filed Sept. l. 1966 INVENTOR /VA/fr/A/ j SP5/vo ATTOR NI'YS July 29,1969 M. J. SPENQ 3,457,660

BALLAST UNDEHCUTTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. l. 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 H6./f n b L INVENTQR BYZ/ 5M, MyWz/a Mdm ATTORNEYS July 29, 1969 M. J.sPENo 3,457,660

' BALLAST UNDERCUTTING MECHANISM Filed sept'. 1, 196e 5 sheets-sheet sf/To DOUBLE-Acum@ HYDRAUUC POWER mms m5 /W'l NOS ./5 O4 FREQUENCY I GOO1 Czhsxhxe HYDRAUMC (TO PUMP O5 SYNCH oNouS MOTO s INvEN'nLm,/V/l/r/A/J SP5/v0 a* Hyg/dim, Myawza ,faam/sw ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent O 3,457,660 BALLAST UNDERCUTTING MECHANISM Martin J. Speno,Syracuse, N.Y. (P.0. Box 33, Ithaca, N.Y. 14851) Filed Sept. 1, 1966,Ser. No. 576,587 Int. Cl. E02f 5/22; F16h 21/18; E01b 27/04 U.S. Cl.37-105 6 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A railroad ballast looseningand digging apparatus including a series of ballast digging assembliescarried by a vehicle mounted frame for movement along the roadbed, theassemblies extending along the side of the vehicle and each including adigging blade positioned for digging engagement with the ballast. Eachdigging blade includes a base portion and an elongated shank portionmounted for telescopic adjustment in the direction of its length withrespect to the base portion, together with power means for swinging therespective digging plates about vertical axes from inoperative positionsin which they extend generally parallel with the roadbed to operativepositions in which the project toward the center of the roadbed andunderneath the ties thereof, Each successive blade is longer than theprevious blade so that the blades remove successive substantially equalcross-section of ballast. Further, there are provided driving means forthe respective shank portions for imparting to each a generallylengthwise reciprocating movement to thus facilitate the ballastremoving action.

The present invention relates to railway ballast digging devices and,more particularly, to apparatus for loosening and directing the loosenedballast to a desired position for pick up and cleaning.

It is well known in the railway art that the crushed stone ballast thatsupports the railway tracks and ties must be cleaned periodically tomaintain the desired resiliency and drainage properties. This operationis accomplished most enconomically by picking up the ballast along theshoulders of the track bed with a scoop and endless conveyorarrangement, then directing the ballast into the supporting railway carfor cleaning whereby to free the ballast of all foreign matter and forscreening of the ballast as to size; the cleaned and sized ballast beingthen returned to the roadbed.

First, in order for the ballast to be picked up by this equipment, itmust be loosened since the collected mud and foreign matter in theballast tends to render the same rigid over a period of time`Additionally, the ballast must be directed to the shoulder of theroadbed so as to be in the path of the scoop and conveyor as the carmoves along the track. To perform these functions it has heretofore beenconventional to use various shaped plow devices which are placed in aposition below the surface of the roadbed and moved forwardly to breakup the ballast as the railway car is pulled along the track.`These priorart plow devices have been found to require a large amount of drivingforce to properly breakup the ballast so that previously large amountsof driving power have been necessary to move the car upon which theplows are mounted.

Further, in prior devices used to undercut the ballast that underliesthe track, it has been suggested to raise the track during theoperation, which, of course, has the obvious disadvantage of requiringextra equipment and in many cases results in destroying portions of thetrack when the same is removed from the bed. It has also been suggestedin the prior art to employ pivotally mounted and actuated undercuttingarms that are capable of reaching ice under the ends of the ties toremove a small portion of the ballast underlying the tracks. However,these latter devices have been found to be generally incapable ofeicient removal of the extremely hard packed ballast underlying theinwardly extending portions of the track since from all indications theamount of driving force needed to drive these prior art blades in suchan operation would be prohibitive.

Thus, it is one object of the present invention to provide an improvedballast digging apparatus which is particularly adapted to overcome theforegoing objections of the prior art.

It is anofher object of the present invention to provide an apparatus ofthe type described which is capable of eiciently loosening hard packedor deteriorated ballast and particularly adapted to loosen such ballastpositioned underneath the ties and for directing said ballast into. aposition for easy pickup by a conveyor.

To accomplish these objectives, the apparatus of the present inventionemploys digging blades which are individually supported for rapidreciprocating or oscillating type movement generally in the direction oftheir length as the car upon which they are mounted is moved along thetrack during the ballast cleaning operation. In the preferred embodimentthis in-and-out :motion takes the form of high frequency, low amplitudemovement that may be either reciprocating or oscillating as desired;this rapid vibrating action being such as to advantageously cause thehard packed ballast to be loosened for easy removal. Y

The digging blades of the preferred embodiment of the invention arerapidly moved as described, by employing synchronous motors which areconnected to the blades by suitable eccentric mountings, said motors`being mounted directly on the support for the blades to giveuninterrupted reciprocating action and to simplify construction byeliminating complicated drive mechanisms. With this synchronous drivemotor arrangement, the digging blades are controllable to a precisespeed during both load and no-load condition, said speed being dependentupon the frequency of the supply of alternating current. Further, as iswell known, a synchronous motor is capable of momentary slippage ifnecessary under unusual load conditions so as to prevent injury to thedriving mechanism.

Another aspect of the present invention concerns the use of differentlength point attack digging blades which project so as to undercut theroadbed in steps or increments to give a more efficient digging actionand to reduce the load on any one digger blade. Related to this, theshank portion of these blades are telescopically mounted in housingsthat form the base of the blade and the housings are pivotally mountedto the frame structure so as to make the blades adapted to be positionedto attack the roadbed at an angle of approximately 60 with respect thelongitudinal axis of the track. With this combination telescoping andpivotal arrangement, the blades are ca- -pable of being projectedgradually to the final digging position under the track by hydraulicpower cylinders which cause concurrent pivotal movement of the blades tothe 60 angle and extensible movement of the shank portion to the fullblade length. With the blades being given the constant high frequencyreciprocating type movement as described above, the blades can assumetheir final Working position with ease. When the operation has beencompleted, the blades can be rapidly retracted and pivoted to anonworking position free of the ballast along the shoulder of theroadbed, and thence shifted to a traveling position above the roadbed,preferably adjacent the underframe of the vehicle upon which theapparatus is mounted so as not to adversely affect the center of gravityof said vehicle during this mode.

To provide for this final shifting movement, the ballast diggingapparatus is provided with a supporting frame having dual transversetelescopic supports fixed to the bed of the vehicle which in turn carrya pair of elongated vertical collars; the telescopic supports beingoperated by hydraulic power cylinders mounted on the bed of the vehicle.The elongated collars carry sliding rods to which additional hydraulicpower cylinders are attached for imparting movement in a verticaldirection to said rods. The blade assemblies are carried by the lowerend of the rods whereby it will be realized that they may be shifted tothe traveling position free of the roadbed by the combined actuation ofthe extensible parts 4of the transverse and vertical supports.

In an alternative form of mounting the blade assemblies, there isprovided a supporting subframe that is adapted for vertical movement toan operative position just above the tracks. This subframe includestelescopic members extending transversely to the vehicle to give thehorizontal shifting movement. The individual digging blades aresupported on a single longitudinally extending angle mounting bar sothat all of the digging blade assemblies are capable of movement inunison to and from a traveling position. In accordance with thisembodiment, the mounting bar is, in addition, mounted for swingingmovement about a longitudinal axis by depending arms which are carriedby the extensible portions of the transverse supports. With thisarrangement, the blade assemblies may be moved to a traveling positionunder the vehicle to provide additional clearance of the roadbed.

Thus, it is another object of the present invention to provide a ballastdigging apparatus wherein the digging blades are driven with a rapid,reciprocating or oscillating type movement to loosen the ballast and toencourage the feeding of the same backwardly along the blade to theshoulder of the roadbed.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ballastcleaning device wherein the digging blades are driven by synchronousmotors through eccentric drives whereby the digging blades are caused toattack the ballast with a rapid vibrating motion under all loadconditions.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide aballast digging device wherein there is provided a plurality ofreciprocating digging blades of increasing length to cause progressiveundercutting of the roadbed whereby a minimum amount of forward drivingpower is required for the car to loosen the ballast and direct the sameto the shoulder of the roadbed for pick up.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ballastundercutting apparatus in which the digging blades are telescopicallymovable to and from a working position so as to provide for convenientstorage for said blades when the same are moved to the nonworking ortraveling position.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomereadily apparent to those skilled in this art from the followingdetailed description, wherein I have shown and described only thepreferred embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration ofthe best modes contemplated by me of carrying out my invention. As willbe realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiment,and its several details are capable of modification in various obviousrespects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, thedrawings and and description are to be regarded as illustrative innature, and not as restrictive.

In the drawings: l

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a portion of a railroad car with the diggingapparatus of the present invention mounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FIGURE 1showing the digging blade assemblies in two different positions;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3 3 of FIGURE 1illustrating the shifting movement of the digger blade assemblies;

FIGURE 4 is a detailed view of the digger blade assembly constructed inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5 5 of FIGURE 4showing the end view of the digger blade assembly;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6 6 of FIGURE 5showing one form of operating mechanism for the preferred embodiment ofthe invention;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7 7 of FIGURE 5showing the operating mechanism for moving the digger blade intooperating position for undercutting the ballast;

FIGURE 8 is a detailed view of a modified form of the digger bladeassembly;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9 9 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE l0 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 10 10 of FIGURE 8showing the slidable mounting of the reciprocating digging blade of thisembodiment;

FIGURE l1 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 11-11 of FIGURE 8showing the synchronous drive motor and its mounting for the diggerblade assembly;

FIGURE l2 is a schematic showing of still an additional modification ofthe apparatus of the present invention with a simplified mountingarrangement for the digger blades on a single longitudinal beam;

FIGURE 13 is an end view of the embodiment of FIGURE 12 showing the`swingable kick-in feature of the digger blade assemblies;

FIGURE 14 is a side view of the blade looking in the direction of thearrows of FIGURE 12; and

FIGURE l5 is a schematic diagram of a power system for use with theapparatus of the present invention.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 1-3 of the drawings, there isillustrated a ballast loosening and digging apparatus constructed inaccordance with the present invention and generally designated yby thereference numeral 10, said apparatus 10 being suitably mounted formovement along relatively spaced railroad tracks T, which are supportedby crossties C, by a conventional railway car, generally represented bythe reference numeral 11. As shown in these figures, the apparatus 10 isthus positioned by the railway car 11 for operation on the roadbed B,which consists of conventional crushed stone ballast.

The railway car 11 comprises a flatbed 15 having side sills 15a (FIGURES1 and 3), which flatbed 15 is supported by conventional wheeled trucks16, only a portion of one being shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. Although theapparatus 10 of the invention is thus associated with a railway car 11supported on the tracks T, it should be understood that said apparatus10 could be conveniently mounted on other types of vehicles which arecapable of advancing movement along the roadbed B.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, the loosening and digging apparatus 10comprises a supporting frame 20 which takes the form of plurality ofhorizontal telescopic support members 21 securely fixed to the top ofthe bed 15 and a plurality of similar telescopic support members 22securely fixed to the underneath side of said bed 15. Extensible rods23, 24 of the telescopic support members 21, 22, respectively, havefixed to their ends relatively spaced elongated collars 25', whichextend in a vertical direction (See FIGURE 1).

The elongated collars 25 are thusly supported in pains along the side ofthe railway car 11 and interconnecting said pairs of collars 2S areupper and lower connecting plates 26, 27 which perform the purpose ofmaintaining the spaced parallel relationship between said collar 25.Passing through the vertical collars 25 are a pair of verticalextensible rods 28 having stopcollars 28a at their upper ends; andpurpose of said rods 28 being to carry a digging blade assembly,generally represented by the reference numeral 29, at their lower ends.

The digging `blade assemblies 29 are adapted to be positioned in anonworking position along the shoulder of the roadbed B in the extendedposition of the support frame 20, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. In thisnonworking position, the shoulders of the roadbed B preferably take theform of a longitiudinal ditch D that has previously been formed by aconventional scoop and endless conveyor arrangement which may be mountedon the front of the railway car 11 but which does not form any part ofthe present invention and will accordingly not be discussed furtherherein. In this position, the digging blade assemblies 29 are in opposedrelationship to the roadbed B and are in readiness to perform theirloosening and digging operation underneath the crossties C, as shown inthese figures.

Before proceeding with a detailed description of the digging bladeassemblies 29, attention is directed to the fact that these assemblies29 can be conveniently shifted to a traveling position clear of theroadbed B, as indicated by the dotted line position of FIGURE 3. Thisshifting movement is accomplished by actuation of horizontally disposeddouble acting hydraulic cylinders 30, which are connected between thebed 15 and the upper connecting plate 26, and by the vertically disposeddouble acting hydraulic cylinders 31, which are connected between thelower connecting plate 27 and a cross plate 32 fixed to the sliding rods28, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. It will be realized that the diggingblade assemblies 29 can thus be shifted to the dotted line travelingposition by supplying the cylinders 30, 31 either concurrently orsequentially with uid pressure to retract their respectively pistonrods. With this arrangement, it will be relaized that during travelingbetween stations of operation, the apparatus 10 will not affect thenormal operation of the car 11 and when the station is reached thedigger blade assemblies 29 may be quickly brought to the loweredposition of FIGURES l and 3 in readiness for the digging operation byactuation of the cylinders 30, 31 to their extended position.

Proceeding now with the description of the digger blade assemblies29a-29e (FIGURES l and 2), which are identical except as will be noted,reference is made to FIGURES 4-7 wherein it can be seen that theassembly 29 basically comprises a -baseplate 35 which is securely weldedor otherwise fastened in a vertical position at the base of the verticalrods 28. An extensible blade, generally represented by the referencenumerals 36u-36e (FIGURE 2) is pivotally mounted on said baseplate 35 lof the respective assemblies 29a-29e by a suitable Pivot pin 37. In thisfirst embodiment, the blade 36 includes a holder 40, a sliding housingportion 41, a shank portion 42, and a working tip 43.

It will be remembered that one of the features of the present inventionis that the balde 36 is capable of movement to a working positionunderneath the crossties C by both a pivotal movement and concurrentextensible movement along its axis. For the former purpose, that is, forpivoting the blade 36 about the pivot pin 37 to the dotted line positionof FIGURE 4, there is provided a hydraulic power cylinder 45, which ismounted on the baseplate 35. The piston rod of the cylinder 45 actsthrough a yoke 46 (FIGURE 7) to drive a transversely extending drive pin47 along a pair of slots 48 formed in relatively spaced guide members49. Pivotally connected to the center of the drive pin 47 is a drivelink 50 which is connected at its opposite end to the holder 40 wherebymovement of the pin 47 in response to actuation of the power cylinder 45will serve to pivot the blade 36 about the pivot pin 37. As a result,when the car 11 is advanced forwardly for the digging operation to beexplained subsequently, the blades 36u-36e can assume an angle ofapproximately 60 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the roadbed B,as indicated in FIGURE 2.

To perform the latter function mentioned above, that is, to extend eachof the telescopic blades 36u-36e to its full length, a second hydrauliccylinder 55 is positioned on the top of the holder 40 as can best be`seen in FIG- URES 5 and 6; the piston rod of the power cylinder 55having a yoke 56 connected to an upstanding ear 57 which is formedintegral with the sliding housing 41. Thus, upon actuation of thecylinder 55, the housing 41 and the shank portion 42 of the blade 36will be moved axially along the holder 40 so as to reach the bladeextended position, which is illustrated in dotted line outline inFIGURES 2 and 4. i

For the purpose of rapidly moving the shank portion 42 and the tip 43 ina low amplitude, oscillatory path, as indicated by the dashed linearrows of FIGURE 6, a pair of eccentric members 60, 61 are journaled forrotation at spaced points along the shank portion 42 of the blade 36, asshown in FIGURE 6; said eccentric members 60, 61 being fixed forrotation with the pair of shafts 62 of a pair of synchronous motors 63that are advantageously carried -directly on the extensible housing 41for movement therewith, thus eliminating the need for complicated drivetransmission elements. This oscillatory movement of the blade shank 42and the working tip 43 serves the important function of setting upvibrations in the rigid ballast so as to loosen the same and render itmore susceptible to removal upon the advancing plowing action of theblade 36, as indicated by the dashed line arrows in FIGURE 2.

The synchronous motors 63 are preferably of the electrical type whereinthe frequency of the alternating current supplied to the motors 63determines the rate of rotation of the same and thus, the frequency ofreciprocation or oscillation of the shank portion 42 of the blade 36. Bythus using electricity to drive the synchronous motors 63, the frequencymay be easily adjusted to the conditions under which the apparatus 10 isoperating, as will be apparent later in the discussion of the preferredpower system of the present invention. Further, this type of motorrotates at a constant speed under varying load conditions so that therequired vibration action is always present while at the same time thesemotors 63 are capable of momentary slippage to protect the working partsunder maximum load conditions. However, it should be understood that inthe present invention it is contemplated that fluid operated motors canalso be used if desired, the only requirement in either case being thatthe working tip 43 of the blades 36 be given movement of a frequencysuicient to vibrate the `ballast being attacked by the working tip 43 soas to loosen the same for removal by the forward plowing action of saidblades 36.

Furthermore, `as will be remembered and as can be seen in FIGURE 2, eachof the successive blades 36a- 36e is longer than the previous blade sothat each of said blades 36 removes substantially the same amount ofballast as the car 11 advances in the direction of said arrows 65. Thiscan be readily understood by viewing the dashed line ballast incrementsa, b, c, d, e, of FIGURE 3, which represent the portion of the lballastto be removed by the corresponding blades 36u-36e respectively. In theoperation of the apparatus 10 of the present invention, it will beapparent that the blade assemblies 29 are first shifted to the readinessposition within the ditch D that has been previously dug in the shoulderof the roadbed B, as indicated by the full lines in FIG- URE 3. This isaccomplished by the individual or concurrent actuation of the hydrauliccylinders 30, 31 with the normal position being determined by the limitof movement of said units 30, 31. After the blade assemblies 29 havereached the readiness position, the hydraulic cylinders y45, 55 areactuated to bring the iblade 36 into engagement with the side of theroadbed B so that the blades 36u-36e are in position to be inserted intothe roadbed B to undercut the same along the dotted lines a-e shown inFIGURE 3. Preferably, the motors 63 are activated at this same time tobegin their point attack digging action illustrated in FIGURE 6.

Thus, with the blades 36u-36e engaging the sides of the roadbed B, thepower units 45, 55 aided by the oscillating movement of the shankportions 42 gradually project the blades 36 under the crossties C; thedotted line position of the blades 36u-36e being the final plowingposition reached after this initial insertion operation.

Upon continued advancing movement of the car 11 in the direction of thearrows 65, the ballast will be removed from the sections a-e of FIGURE 3by the respective blades 36u-36e. During this plowing operation, thesynchronous motors 63 continuously cause the working tip 43 of the bladeshank 42 to attack the ballast at the inner limit of the correspondingsection and the ballast in each section is then directed along theleading face of the blades 36 and deposited in the ditch D for easy pickup for cleaning by a conventional scoop and endless conveyorarrangement. The constant in-and-out movement of the shank portion 42serves to aid the outward ow of ballast along its leading face and thusto prevent stalling or piling up of said ballast as it moves to theditch D.

Referring now to FIGURES 8-11, there is shown an alternative arrangementof the digger blade assembly 29; it being understood that like elementsin these figures are referred to by the like reference numerals as inthe foregoing figures. Thus, the hydraulic power cylinder 45 iseffective through the link 150 to pivot the digger blade 36 into thedotted line position of FIGURE 8. Likewise, a hydraulic power cylinder55 is utilized to shift the blade 36 between its extended position, asalso shown by the dotted line outline in this gure, and its retractedposition (full lines). More particularly, the motor 63 is mounted on aslidable ibase 70 adapted for movement along the -dovetail track 71 and,as shown, the shaft 62 of the motor 63 has mounted thereon a wheel 72having an eccentrically located pin 73 that serves to drive a link 74and thereby reciprocating shank portion 75. As will be noted in FIGURESand 1l, a slot 76 is provided in housing 77 that carries the shankportion 75 so that upon actuation of the power cylinder 55 to move thebase 70, the entire driving mechanism is thus moved into or out of theextended position with said shank portion 75` As before, thisarrangement of mounting the driving motor 63 for shifting movement withthe telescopic blade 36 lends itself to desirable simplicity inconstruction.

As illustrated in FIGURE 8, working tip 79 of blade shank portion 75 hasa pure reciprocating movement, and in this case it may be desirable incertain cases to design said working tip 79 so as to extend forwardly atan angle of approximately As thusly formed, the working tip 79 tends toaid in urging the ballast outwardly along the forward face of the blade36 with each working stroke of the shank portion 75.

With attention now being directed to FIGURES 12- 14, there isillustrated a simplified alternative arrangement for applying certainteachings of the present invention. In this arrangement, the diggingblade assemblies 29 -are all mounted on la single longitudinallyextending beam 80 which is adapted to be disposed along the ends of thecrossties C, as well illustrated in FIG- URE 12. As in the aboveembodiment, the power cylinders 45 serve to pivot the housing 77 aboutthe rear pivot 37 through a suitable link 50. For simplicty, the motors63 are mounted on a xed extension 81 (FIGURE 12) of the housing 77 andis not capable of sliding movement `as in the previous embodiment sothat the blade shank 42 is not extensible to a projected position. Asbefore, the motor 63 provides a rapid, low amplitude reciprocatingmovement along the longitudinal axis of the shank portion 75 (asindicated by the arrows in FIG- URE 12), which blade shank 7=5 isprovided with a conventional point attack working tip 85; this tip 85serving to transmit the vibrating action to the ballast so as to loosenthe same for easy removal as in the previous embodiments. For stillfurther simplicity, it may Ibe desirable that the reciprocating featurebe eliminated on the lead blade assembly 29 since near the ends of theties the ballast is usually not packed as hard as in the inner portionsof the roadbed B, In this case the blade 36 may be formed of a singlepivotal element, as depicted in this ligure.

A modication of the supporting frame 20 for the digger blade assemblies29 is illustrated in FIGURE 13 wherein is disclosed stationary verticalcollars which receive in sliding relationship extensible rods 91 at thelower extremity of which are rigidly secured horizontal support members92 having extensible members 93 (only one of which is shown in FIGURE13), which horizontal support members 92 form a movable subframe, asgenerally represented by the reference character S in this figure, Inthis configuration, it is to be understood that there are providedhydraulic power units corresponding to the hydraulic power units 30, 31(FIGURES 1 and 3) to operate the extensible members 91, 93 within therespective support members 90, 92. Thus, it will be understood that thesubframe S is movable between the full line position and the dotted lineposition of FIG- URE 13 by the operation of these power units 30, 31.

The blade assemblies 29 are capable of still another type of shiftingmovement in this embodiment so as to provide -additional clearance underthe railway car 11 and to bring the center of gravity of the subframe Sas close to the center of gravity of the car 11 as possible. To do this,there are provided a series of depending arms 95 capable of swingingmovement about pivots 96 at the remote ends of the extensible members93. A longitudinally extending beam 80 supporting the blade assemblies29 is attached to the lower end of the depending arms 95, and as willtbe clear from viewing FIGURE 13, after the subframe S has been broughtto the dotted line position, the actuation of additional cylinders 97acting through connecting links 98 serve to kick in the longitudinalbeam 80 under the railway car 11 to thereby bring the blade assemblies29 to a position well within the contines of said car 11.

The power for operating the synchronous motors 63 and the hydraulicpower units `30, 31, 45, 55, and 97 can be of any conventional designand the schematic diagram of FIGURE 15 is merely for the purpose ofillustrating one such operative system. Thus, assuming that D.C.electric current is available, a D.C. motor 100 is provided to drive ahydraulic pump 101 and an A C. current generator 102 through its outputshafts. The pump 101 is provided with a pressure line 103 having asuitable valve 104 for operating each of the individual hydraulic powerunits mentioned above; it being understood that only one such outlet isshown in FIGURE l5 for simplicity. Similarly, the A.C. generator issupplied with output lines 105, 106 for connection through an adjustablefrequency changing circuit 107 to each of the synchronous motors 63; itbeing understood that the circuit 107 may be of any conventional designand thus need uot be discussed in detail herein. It is contemplated thatthe usual frequency of alternating current, that is 60 cycles persecond, could be used to drive the motors 63, 1n which case, of course,the shank portions 42, 75 of the blades 36 move back and forth 60 timesa second; however, other high frequencies could be selected to gainacceptable results as long as the ballast is vibrated properly to loosenthe same. Of course, a suitable switch 108 may be provided for selectiveon-oif operation of the motors 63, preferably in concert.

'Ihe results and advantages gained from the loosening and diggingapparatus 10 of the present invention should now lbe evident to thoseskilled in this lart to include a concept that allows the hardenedballast to be loosened and then directed in a desired direction alongthe roadbed with a minimum amount of power being supplied to drive therailway car in an advancing movement. AS has been shown, one importantaspect of the invention relates to the rapid movement of the shankportions `42, 75 of the blades 36 in such a manner as to set up ballastloosening vibrations at the working tips 43, 79, 85 of said blades 36.Furthermore, it has been illustrated that the blades 36 can be made toproject to an extended length underneath the crossties C to eiiicientlyremove the hardened ballast in this area, which has heretofore beenimpossible. Finally, the blade assemblies 29 have been mounted on aconventional railway car 11 in a novel manner by a supporting frame sothat the digger blade assemblies 29 can selectively assu-me a retractedposition during the traveling from one location to another or anoperative position in the ditch D.

In this disclosure, there is shown and described only the preferredembodiments of the invention, but, as aforementioned, it is to beunderstood that the invention is capable of various changes ormodiiications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed bythe accompanying claim.

I claim:

1. A ballast loosening and digging apparatus comprising the combinationof a vehicle adapted for movement along a roadbed, a supporting framemounted on said vehicle, a series of ballast digging assemblies carriedby said frame and extending along one side of said vehicle, each of saidassemblies including -a digging blade positioned for digging engagementwith said ballast, each of said digging blades including a base portionand an elongated shank portion mounted for telescopic adjustment in thedirection of its length with respect to said base portion, and powermeans for projecting said shank portion into a Working positionunderneath the ties on the roadbed, each successive blade being longerthan the previous blade whereby substantially equal cross-sections ofsaid ballast are removed by said blades upon advancing movement of saidvehicle along the roadbed, and driving means for imparting to said shankportions a generally lengthwise reciprocating movement.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said driving means includes aseparate synchronous motor means and eccentric member combination foreach of said shank portions.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said supporting frame includes alongitudinally extending support beam for carrying said assemblies, asubframe including telescopic support means for said beam extendingtransversely to said vehicle and telescopic support means for saidsubframe extending vertically with respect to said vehicle, power meansfor individually adjusting each said telescopic support means toposition said digging blade, Said support beam being pivotally connectedto said subframe by a plurality of support arms and additional powermeans for causing pivotal movement of said support arms.

4. A ballast loosening and digging apparatus comprising the combinationof a vehicle adapted for movement along a roadbed, a supporting framemounted on said vehicle, at least one digging blade carried by saidframe, said blade being positioned for digging engagement with theballast and driving means for imparting substantially low amplitude,high frequency digging movement to said blade, the frequency of themovement 0f said blade being sufficient to set up ballast looseningvibrations and being substantially constant under varying loadconditions, said driving means including synchronous motor means and aneccentric member driven by said synchronous motor means, and linkagemeans for connecting said blade to said eccentric member, saidsupporting frame including telescopic support means extendingtransversely to said vehicle and additional telescopic support meansextending vertically with respect to said vehicle, and power means forindividually adjusting each of said telescopic support means to positionsaid digging blade.

5. A ballast loosening and digging apparatus comprising the combinationof a vehicle adapted for movement along a roadbed, a supporting framemounted on said vehicle, at least one digging blade carried by saidframe, said blade being positioned for digging engagement with theballast, and driving means for imparting substantially low amplitude,high frequency digging movement to said blade, the frequency of themovement of said blade being sufiicient to set up ballast looseningvibrations and being substantially constant under varying loadconditions, said driving means further including synchronous motor meansand an eccentric member driven by said synchronous motor means, andlinkage means for connecting said blade to said eccentric member, saidblade including a hollow elongated base housing pivotally mounted onsaid frame, power means for pivoting said housing to position said bladein a non-working position free of said ballast, a telescopic shankportion positioned within said housing, a slidable carriage mountingsaid motor means on said frame, and additional power means for movingsaid carriage to project and retract said shank portion from a workingposition.

6. A ballast loosening and diggin-g apparatus comprising the combinationof a vehicle adapted for movement along a roadbed, a supporting framemounted on said vehicle, at least one digging blade carried by saidframe, said blade being positioned for digging engagement with theballast, and driving means for imparting substantially 10W amplitudehigh frequency digging movement to said blade, the frequency of themovement of said blade being sufficient to set up ballast looseningvibrations and being substantially constant under varying loadconditions, said driving means further including a pair of synchronousmotor means, an eccentric member carried by the drive shaft of each saidsynchronous motor means, said blade being carried at spaced axial pointsby said eccentric members, whereby said blade moves in an oscillatorydigging path upon concurrent actuation of both of said synchronous motormeans.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,030,715 4/1962 Bodine 37-1183,055,309 9/1962 Moss 37-104 X 3,336,082 8/1967 Bodine 299-14 3,380,1804/1968 Speno 37-105 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner EUGENE H.EICKHOLT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 74-45; 171-16

